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Phone dead? No problem, try this virtual smartphone

AUSTIN - Could you even survive without your smartphone? Jenviev Azzolin doesn't think you can, which is why the self-proclaimed mobile addict co-founded PPLConnect, resulting in what she describes as the

AUSTIN — Could you even survive without your smartphone? Jenviev Azzolin doesn't think you can, which is why the self-proclaimed mobile addict co-founded PPLConnect, resulting in what she describes as the world's first virtual smartphone.

What exactly is a virtual smartphone, and why would you want one? The idea is that you can use your current mobile number for calls and texts, without being held being hostage to that single piece of hardware in your pocket.

Though I haven't had a chance to do full testing yet, the promise is that you can make calls with your number from any browser connected to the Internet, without exhausting your carrier minutes and regardless of device or platform. You might call or text from your tablet or a friend's phone. You can send and receive SMS text messages sitting at work in front of your computer. You can leverage your phone's contacts from any of these devices as well.

This is all supposed to work even if your actual phone is turned off. Pretty cool, considering we all have experienced a battery that died at the worst possible moment. Another potential benefit is the ability to save on roaming fees if you travel internationally.

PPLConnect works through Voice over IP or VOIP, among other technologies Some of the features would appear to overlap with Google Voice and other communications services. Users on Macs can already send and receive Apple's own iMessages from their computers.

But PPLConnect is pushing its multi-platform nature. "Everyone else is selling hardware or services that are tied to locking them into their world," says another of PPLConnect's co-founders Denzil D'Sa. "Your calls (via PPLConnect) are from your number, in and out. Your SMS's are from your number, in and out."

The service is still in its beta state. The official launch remains a couple of weeks out. And there are limitations in what you can do, at least at the moment. For example, while you can make a call from a PC or tablet, and get notified if someone tries calling you on your mobile number, you won't hear your PC or tablet ring at the time of that incoming call.

To start out, you download a PPLConnect Android app, available now in the Google Play store. There's no iPhone app at the moment. You sign up with a Google + account or your email, and enter your phone number. PPLConnect will send you a code via SMS to link your actual phone to your virtual phone. From then on you can log into PPLConnect from any browser connected to the Web.

"Not so long ago, our email used to be tied to one PC, just like our files used to be saved on one hard drive and our music used to be saved on CDs," Azzolin says. "The cloud came along and fundamentally improved that experience, giving us access from any device. And it's that same experience we want to bring to your phone."

South by Southwest represents the Montreal startup's big coming out party (though the technology has been publicly shown before). The company is one of eight finalists in the social technologies category of the SXSW Accelerator program competition. Over the weekend, Azzolin and D'Sa get to do a pitch before a live SXSW audience. "We're here to get a wider net of awareness out there," Azzolin says.

As Game of Thrones devotees, Azzolin lists her title (in addition to co-founder) as "Mother of Dragons," while D'Sa is listed as being "In charge of the impossible."

The co-founders are extending this playfulness to their SXSW promotions. On Friday, they hosted a "Mobile Addicts Anonymous Meetup" at a downtown Austin hotel: Mobile "zombies" crawled Austin eating smartphones rather than brains to attract people to the meetup.

Meanwhile, anyone at the festival who downloads the app gets to take advantage of a free "line waiting service," Azzolin says. You let PPLConnect know the party or event that you want to attend during the confab and PPLConnect will send someone to hold a spot for you on line until you get there.

The app is free, as are calls from PPLConnect phones to other PPLConnect phones. Calls outside PPLConnect cost about 3 cents a minute (purchased through "credits"), one way the company hopes to make money. You can earn free credits by sharing PPLConnect with your friends. In the current state of the beta, international calls are not supported.

One future feature dubbed "Hotel My Phone" will let you check-in or check out of another person's device. Say your battery dies and you need to borrow a stranger's phone. You can log into your account from the person's device, check your messages, maybe send a text or make a quick call. After logging out, none of your information is left behind on the phone, not your number, and not who you called or got a call from.

For all its presumed benefits, PPLConnect would seem to face an uphill battle. There's stiff competition in the VOIP space from better known rivals such as Google or Skype. And I suspect most of us are going to clutch onto our physical phones, and not let go of them up so easily.